A worker removes pencils from a conveyor belt at the General Pencil Co.'s factory in Jersey City. A new survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York finds that half of small businesses that sought credit during the first six months of last year were able to get it.
(Bloomberg News file photo)

Small businesses in New Jersey and neighboring states are finding their access to credit these days to be good and say they are more likely to hire in the next six months than they were last year, a survey released today by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has found.

Additionally, firms are showing a generally optimistic outlook for their income, with 58 percent expecting higher revenue and 54 percent anticipating profits during the first half of the year, the survey found. By comparison, just 41 percent of surveyed firms said their revenue grew during the first half of last year, while 36 percent recorded a profit.

The survey, which was conducted in conjunction with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, polled more than 1,500 small businesses in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. While the results aren’t broken down by state, Garden State businesses comprised 20 percent of respondents.

More than half of the businesses surveyed employed one-to-four workers, while most of the remainder had between five and 99 workers on staff. The firms ran the gamut of industries and experience levels, from start-ups to those with at least 20 years under their belt.

Of the firms surveyed, 28 percent applied for credit during the first half of 2013. Of these, just over half were approved by their lender. Two-thirds of approved borrowers received the amount they were seeking.

While more firms borrowed to help with day-to-day operations, just over quarter sought financing to expand their business, the survey found.

Additionally, 31 percent of businesses surveyed said they plan to add employees during the first half of this year, compared to the 19 percent that added workers during the first half of last year. Just seven percent of respondents expected to reduce staff over the coming months.

Still, the survey shows it's tougher for struggling businesses and ones that don’t want to borrow as much to find financing. Loans were more likely to be approved for profitable firms than ones breaking even or showing a loss. Requests seeking more than $100,000 in credit also were more likely to be approved.

For those that were unsuccessful in seeking credit, weak collateral, low credit scores and weak business performance were the top three reasons for denial. But there was some sign that the outlook of some struggling businesses is changing. The survey found that one out of five firms planning to apply for credit this year were ones that felt discouraged from doing so last year.